Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Lovely Bones

Picked up a cold and sore throat so am confined to home for a day's rest.

Not that I mind - have been feeling a little 'worn-out' from work lately. Not sure if it's the work itself, or that I'm feeling a little lost in terms directions. Cant really see where I'm headed in the medium/long term, as it is. Good thing my half-yearly performance appraisal's coming up next week. Should be able to clear up some doubts with my manager.

Anyway, since I'm home and feeling a little dazed (from the medication, mostly) but mostly bored, I've picked up a DVD which I've had for a while, but just did not get to watch it. The movie's called "The Lovely Bones". Sounds a little weird, for anyone to label bones as being 'lovely', I thought...

Still, the show (about 2 hours long) turned out to be... interesting, to say the least. It follows the ghost/spirit of a 14 year-old girl, who was murdered by her neighbour, who turns out to be a serial killer (who has killed mostly young and teenage girls). There wasnt any grisly scenes, they didnt even show exactly how Susie Salmon - that's the protagonist's name - was murdered. But from glimpses and flashbacks, you get to see that she must've been slashed by a switch-blade and her corpse thrown into a antique-looking safebox.

Mostly the show follows how the family deals with the lost, and it is heart-breaking to see how Susie's dad transform into a broken man, and her mum eventually leaving the family in search of her own healing/salvation. From a parent's perspective, it must be the greatest grief to witness/experience your own child(ren)'s passing. In chinese, the phrase 白发人送黑发人describes this tragic experience...

The movie, being directed by Peter Jackson (famous director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) contained some magnificant scenes, mostly of supernatural and unearthly scenaries and brilliant colours. I particularly loved a scene where Susie witnessed some large, floating bottles (containing model ships) crashing against the rocky shores. This happens in her world - which was explained to be somewhere in-between Earth and Heaven - whereas in the real world, Susie's dad was smashing those bottles in despair and anguish. Somehow, that scene struck me as particularly moving, for some reason.

In the end, of course, the family healed and moved on; the bad guy was killed in a accident; and Susie supposedly 'ascent' to heaven. But I guess that's not the point of the movie, is it? =P